The weather was dry and cool this weekend. The forecast calls for rain for the rest of this week. I hope it does rain because we really need the moisture. The grass is turning brown but Livonia is asking the residents to curtail watering.

Saturday, Ken and I spent 3 hours in the garden. I added a water-soluble fertilizer to all of the flower pots. I read an article recently that suggested that Wave petunias should have every other branch pruned back each week in order to keep them from getting leggy. I have been doing this the last few weeks.

The cool weather has not adversely affected the vegetable plants. I picked the first tomato yesterday--a Sun Gold. It tasted divine! There are several other Sun Gold tomatoes beginning to ripen. Even though the other type of tomato plants are loaded with fruit, all of them are still green. When the evening temperatures begin to rise, I should have a ton of tomatoes. I have been collecting lots of recipes lately so that I'll be ready to use them when they do ripen.


I also picked my first carrot on Sunday. I couldn't believe how sweet it was. It tasted like candy. I will definitely plant this variety again next year.


Zuchinni Plant

I think that the Yukon Gold potatoes will be ready to harvest soon. Ken was ready to dig them up on Saturday but I told him to wait another week or so. We did pull up onions to use in several dished though. This variety is very sweet but give off a pungent smell while they are cooking.

I dug up the other three Stella d'Oro daylilies that were in the large back bed. I also had Ken clip two of the Stella d'Oros down to the ground that are in one of the smaller back beds. The leaves were hanging over some of the other flowers. I rearranged the pots and ornaments to distract the eye from this section of the bed. This is the first time I have ever severely cut back a daylily in the middle of the season so I'll be interested in seeing what happens.

Several weeks ago, I cut back one of the white Veronicas that was growing in this same bed. After flowering, it became lanky and the leaves were no long attractive. However, the plant is beginning to grow back and from my past experience I expect it to rebloom latter this summer. I deadheaded another white Veronica but since it still had a pleasing shape, I didn't feel the need to cut it back to the ground.

I also cut back the Marguerite daisies. I love both the flowers and the foliage on this perennial but they were just too floppy! They were laying on top of all of the other flowers and blocking their sun. I'm trying to decide what I am going to do with them next year. I will be digging up and dividing the daylilies so I might put some of the Marguerite daisies between them. The leaves of the daylilies might give them support (especially if I pinch back the daisies in the spring) and add more color after the daylilies are done blooming.


Salmon Flambe Petunia

I have noticed some "surprises" in the garden during the last week. First, I noticed that the mystery plant (see Wednesday, July 1st post) have self-seeded and three or four more plants are beginning to come up. Also, the snapdragons that were planted in the pots in the hosta bed must have self-sown because they are coming up through the cedar mulch. I decided not to pull out the snapdragons. The variety that I planted last year was a very pretty pink and yellow.